What's the Most Efficient Way to Organize Icons in the Home and Apps Screens?

[jdanniel]

Hi. I'm new to Android, having just bought a 16 GB Nexus 7. I need some help organizing the home and Apps screens.

Honestly, right now I don't think I have a clue what I'm doing.

I deleted the My Library stuff on the initial screen, and I deleted a couple of other things. I've been told the things I deleted are widgets. Obviously, I haven't yet learned much about widgets.
After deleting those things, I have a big blank screen. I have to scroll to the next screen to see various icons. I've figured out how to move icons: I press down on one, hold it, and drag it over to the previous screen. (I believe that is called a long tap.)

So, now I have a few questions about this. You'll see in a moment exactly how new I am to all this.

1. Is there a way to move multiple icons from screen to screen? So far, I have figured out how to move only one at a time, which is time-consuming.
2. Is it possible to move icons across more than one screen? So far, I can move an icon from one screen to another, but I have to move some across a couple of screens. Do I have to work with only one screen at a time?

Right now, these screens are a total mess. I have screens that are blank, screens with one icon, screens loaded with icons?I really need help organizing them.

Here's the last question:

3. When I press the icon at the bottom that has a circle with six squares in it, the screen with all my apps appears. There are actually a few screens full of apps. Is there a way to organize THESE screens? When I press and hold an icon in one of THESE screens, it ends up in a HOME screen. It remains in the APPS screen, but a duplicate is made in one of the screens I'm trying to organize.

I'm not sure if I explained that very well.

Obviously, I'm just trying to organize and clean up the screens. Would anyone be willing to give me a few tips on how to do this?with a bit more efficiency? Thank you so much. Jd

 

[lizards4444]

Well, widgets are not apps, but, well widgets, they can bring info such as time, weather, sports scores etc. as for moving apps from one screen to another, all you do is hold on the app, and while holding it, draga it to the side of the screen, and it will go to the next one, just keep holding and dragging to move it even further. Also, you cant move more than one at a time, unless they are in a folder, which you make by either dragging an app onto another, or holding down in a blank spot, and tapping new folder. The six dot thing is your app drawer, it will always show all of your apps, and you cannot move apps around in the app drawer


hope i helped, feel free to ask anything else anytime

 

[umpirerob]

Folder Organizer... Look for it in the Play store.

Sent from my HTC Mecha using Tapatalk 2.

 

[dparrothead1]

What I would is just go to all of your home screens and drag all of the icons to the trash....just get all of them off the screen.

Then hit your home button and that should show all of your screens in miniature on one screen. I would then delete all but two or three home screens. Your main home screen (the screen it goes to when hit the home button) should be the middle screen or have a check mark. You can always add more screens later if you need them.

Then tap on the icon with the six dots in the bottom tray. This will open your app drawer where all of your apps are kept.

Go through your apps and choose the ones you use the most and want to put on your home screen. ?Long press the icon and it will go to your home screen.

Once you get your icons as you like them, come back and we will talk about widgets, what they do and how to add them.

Good luck, take your time and enjoy!!!

 

[gaetawoo]

What I would is just go to all of your home screens and drag all of the icons to the trash....just get all of them off the screen.

Then hit your home button and that should show all of your screens in miniature on one screen. I would then delete all but two or three home screens. Your main home screen (the screen it goes to when hit the home button) should be the middle screen or have a check mark. You can always add more screens later if you need them.

Then tap on the icon with the six dots in the bottom tray. This will open your app drawer where all of your apps are kept.

Go through your apps and choose the ones you use the most and want to put on your home screen. ?Long press the icon and it will go to your home screen.

Once you get your icons as you like them, come back and we will talk about widgets, what they do and how to add them.

Good luck, take your time and enjoy!!!

Folder organizer opens up a world to you

 

[jdanniel]

What I would is just go to all of your home screens and drag all of the icons to the trash....just get all of them off the screen.

Then hit your home button and that should show all of your screens in miniature on one screen. I would then delete all but two or three home screens. Your main home screen (the screen it goes to when hit the home button) should be the middle screen or have a check mark. You can always add more screens later if you need them

What a mess.
I've deleted all of the icons and widgets in the home screens. The home screens are now completely empty and blank.

However, I do not see the screens in miniature when I hit the Home button. Should I? If I don't, then why not?

So, as of right now, I do not know how many Home screens I have. I think I have one, but I'm honestly not sure. I might have more, but I don't know.

Okay, so that's one problem that needs to be solved. Here's another:

I've gone into the app drawer and long tapped one icon. It is placed in a Home screen. I've moved it so that it is right smack dab in the center of the screen.

Now...when I press the HOME key, the icon is not visible. I have to scroll to see it.

I haven't installed Folder Organizer yet, because I want to know if using that program will solve the problems I'm encountering. Granted, to be fair, they aren't major or serious problems. It's just a customization and organization issue. But at the rate this is going, I'm not going to understand this. I admit to being frustrated, so please bear with me.

If the Home screens can be displayed in miniature, and can be deleted, then why am I not able to do it? I'm assuming we're all working with the same equipment here. I have a 16 GB Nexus 7 with Jelly Bean. Isn't that what all Nexus 7 users have?

Thanks again. Jd

 

[Wullie32]

You can only move, add or delete homescreens with a launcher.

I think what you have to do is decide exactly what you want from your homescreen before you can organise it. Do you want all your apps or just your favourite? Do you want a clock, or the weather, or your Facebook feed maybe? Do you want one screen or multiple scrolling ones?

Why don't you take a look in the "Screen Shots" sticky at the top of this thread and get some ideas from what other people have done with theirs? If you know exactly what you're after, then it's much easier to help you.

 

[gaetawoo]

You can only move, add or delete homescreens with a launcher.

I think what you have to do is decide exactly what you want from your homescreen before you can organise it. Do you want all your apps or just your favourite? Do you want a clock, or the weather, or your Facebook feed maybe? Do you want one screen or multiple scrolling ones?

Why don't you take a look in the "Screen Shots" sticky at the top of this thread and get some ideas from what other people have done with theirs? If you know exactly what you're after, then it's much easier to help you.

Folder organizer is the most efficient

 

[flux capacitor]

Is there anyway to organize the icons alphabetically. Doing it by hand is a real pain and wonder if there's automatic sorting?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

 

[flicker0x7]

Is there anyway to organize the icons alphabetically. Doing it by hand is a real pain and wonder if there's automatic sorting?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

Not with the standard launcher, sadly. I actually also needed a launcher that supports that at one point. The closest I found was the "Windows Phone" style launcher, which gives you an alphabetic list of apps.

 

[dylan2k]

"What I would is just go to all of your home screens and drag all of the icons to the trash....just get all of them off the screen.

Then hit your home button and that should show all of your screens in miniature on one screen. I would then delete all but two or three home screens. Your main home screen (the screen it goes to when hit the home button) should be the middle screen or have a check mark. You can always add more screens later if you need them" - DPARROTHEAD


Oh man, thank you. I"ve been racking my brain (such as it is) trying to figure out how to accomplish this for weeks. Since I got the ProMax with all that memory I've gone app-happy and made a big mess. Now, after following your instructions, ten minutes later: ORGANIZATION! Thanks again!